Alaska Commission for Behavioral Health Certification

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ACBHC’S Mailing Address

P.O. Box 220109
Anchorage, AK 99522-0109

Please mail all applications to the above address and not to the address listed in your application until further notice.

The Alaska Commission for Behavioral Health Certification is an entity that certifies counselors within the state of Alaska in the fields of behavioral health and addiction.

The term Behavioral Health is inclusive of mental health, domestic violence, corrections and other related occupational fields.

The Alaska Commission for Behavioral Health Certification was called the Alaska Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor certification Review Board. The Alaska Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor certification Review Board was formed in 1981 in response to concern among professional mental and addiction clinicians, lawmakers, a variety of citizen groups and the population at large, that those who practice as chemical dependency clinicians possess the knowledge, skill and character to practice competently and ethically. In order to better ensure quality of care, professional ethics and a professional code of conduct, the Board began to identify minimum professional standards of competency and to develop standards for professional conduct, seeking statewide input, pursuing national standards and assessing various means of examining clinicians for those qualities associated with these critical variables.

In January 1985, the Board was renamed the “Alaska Commission for Chemical Dependency Professionals Certification”. At this time restructuring and reorganization was accomplished to provide better representation of Alaska Native, American Indian, and other rural provider concerns and issues.

Since the beginning of counselor certification in Alaska, there have been ongoing efforts to revise and refine both the minimum knowledge and skill standards for practice; and to define the ethical standards and a code of conduct for addiction counselors. Assessment of competency and knowledge of ethics is now accomplished by a combination of: verification of supervised professional experience and recommendations of those familiar with the applicants work and testing. Proposed regulations mirror those now governing the Commission.

In April 2005, the Board was renamed the “Alaska Commission for Behavioral Health Certification”. The purpose of the name change was to represent the inclusion of certification in areas other than addiction and give staff in related occupations an opportunity of further recognition of their skills.